Pregnancy: Coronavirus

(asked on 26th April 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that pregnant women are offered the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna covid-19 vaccine.


Answered by
Nadhim Zahawi Portrait
Nadhim Zahawi
This question was answered on 29th April 2021

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) are the independent body made up of scientific and clinical experts who advise the Government on which vaccines the United Kingdom should use and provide advice on prioritisation at a population level.

The Government has accepted the JCVI's advice, updated on 19 April, which now indicates that women who are pregnant should be offered vaccination at the same time as non-pregnant women, based on their age and clinical risk group. Clinicians should discuss the risks and benefits of vaccination with the woman, who should be told about the limited evidence of safety for the vaccine in pregnancy. The Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are the preferred vaccines for pregnant women of any age, because of more extensive experience of their use in pregnancy. Pregnant women who commenced vaccination with Oxford/AstraZeneca are advised to complete with the same vaccine.

Pregnant women may wish to contact their general practitioner, who will identify the available vaccination centres where the person is able to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccines. If a woman finds out she is pregnant after she has started a course of vaccine, she may complete vaccination during pregnancy using the same vaccine product unless contra-indicated. Alternatively, vaccination should be offered as soon as possible after pregnancy.

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